The Fall
by dd1995
Summary: Story inspired by art created by skiretehfox on Tumblr


_"Ruby!"_

_"Yang, we have to go!"_

_"No! I won't leave her! I won't leave her behind!"_

_"Yang, we can't stay!"_

_"Yang, we have to run!"_

_"NO!"_

It took the strength of Blake, Weiss, and Pyrrha to pull Yang away.

Away from the limp, pale, bleeding form of her younger sister.

It took all of their strength to _drag_ her away from her sister.

There were too many. They couldn't fight them all. They had to run.

Teams JNPR and what was left of RWBY climbed backward onto the transport, all six of them dragging Yang by her arms and shoulders. Lashing out in an attempt to get free, she clubbed Jaune in the jaw, knocking him aside in freeing her arm, but only for a moment. The rest of them clamped down on her as fast as they could to keep her still. Looking out onto the paved battlefield, Yang took one last glance at her dying sibling.

Then came a scream like none of them had ever heard. This was no scream of fear. This was an ear-shattering, blood-curdling scream of pure, unadulterated hatred. Yang was unable to save her sister, but she would not leave without letting the enemy know what they'd wrought. If she could not stop them, she would make sure they feared her.

On the transport, Nora was curled up in Ren's lap with her head on his chest, sniffling quietly. Her usually hyper, giddy face had faded away to be replaced by an expression of horror and pain. Pyrrha and Jaune sat together, resting their heads together. Weiss did not weep. She shared the sadness, but no outbursts would come. Blake just tried to keep Yang from bringing down their airship, saying and doing anything she had to to keep Yang docile. The trip was nearly silent. No one spoke. The only interruptions were turbulence and the muffled weeps of Nora and Blake.

When they arrived back at Beacon, Blake had gotten Yang to cooperate enough to at least agree to join them back at the JNPR dorm. As they walked through the dark courtyard toward the building, Ozpin approached but Ren waved him off, gesturing to the pilot. Jaune overheard their conversation.

_"What happened?"_

_"It was Ms. Rose, sir. She... she didn't make it."_

Giving a quick glance back before Pyrrha laid a hand on his shoulder to keep his attention forward, Jaune spotted Ozpin bowing his head, removing his glasses to clean them on his handkerchief.

As the students arrived in the dorm, the heard the subtle crackle of the intercom clicking on, and Glynda Goodwitch's voice came through it

"Attention, students of Beacon. I'm afraid I have an unfortunate announcement to make. Tonight, a huntress-in-training has been lost. Ruby Rose has fallen."

There was silence. Across the entire academy, there was not a sound. Many students stopped in the middle of their projects, homework, and other practices to look up at the intercom speakers and now stood still. Some shared embraces, others shared silent tears. All grieved. Many may not have known Ruby well, or at all, but they all knew the same thing. They'd all just lost a sister. In this world, there was a diminishing amount of brightness and happiness, and it felt like they'd all lost a piece of that. Like something pure, innocent, and beautiful had been destroyed.

Sitting on the JNPR beds together, the seven students silently stared at the floor. Blake was sitting behind Yang with her arms around Yang's waist. Their faces both had glimmering, vertical lines of moisture on their cheeks from the tears, and Yang was shaking like she hadn't eaten in days. For a moment, they thought this moment might never end, but a soft knock on the door broke the school-wide silence. Again, Ren was the first to speak.

"Come in."

The latch clicked gently and the ivory white door drifted open. Ozpin. Entering the room and closing the door behind him, Ozpin stepped toward them, the end of his cane hitting the carpeted floor with soft thuds after every step he took. He didn't have a speech to make, nothing eloquent to calm the nerves, nothing uplifting to speak of. Maybe he knew that wouldn't help. In the grasp of his left arm was a bundle of brown cloth, tied off with a thin sash.

Yang, Blake, and Weiss were sat on the left bed with Pyrrha while JNPR sat side by side on the right bed. Ozpin approached the remainder of team RWBY. At his height, he couldn't directly address them like he wanted to, so he rested his can on the newel post of their bed and slowly lowered himself to one knee.

Meeting each of their pairs of eyes one by one until he arrived at Weiss, Ozpin took the package in his left arm and rested it on his knee.

_"I have something for you girls."_

Taking the package in both hands, Ozpin offers it forward to Weiss. With a delicate grasp, Weiss takes it from him. Resting it on her lap, Weiss begins untying the sash holding the brown wrappings closed. Blake and Yang's eyes are on the package as it opens, revealing the contents. Lying within are 3 tattered pieces of silky, glossy red cloth.

The remainder of Ruby's cape. Two of the pieces were long and thin, one of them shorter and wider than the other. The third was more square, like a handkerchief or bandana.

A barely audible gasp emerges from Pyrrha, her hand raising to cup over her mouth, and fresh tears roll down the cheeks of every student in the room.

_"It was all we could salvage."_

Weiss' gaze lifted and she gave a curt nod of understanding. As much as this hurt, Weiss was still capable of being political. Ozpin rose to his feet now, taking cane in hand and moving to the door.

_"Wait."_

That was the first thing Yang had said in hours. Ozpin turned to face her.

_"T-Thank you..."_ Yang's voice broke, sounding choked and out of breath.

Ozpin gave a slow nod. _"We'll... speak again later."_

All the students in the room nodded and Ozpin exited the dorm. Looking down at their delivery again, the remainder of team RWBY each took one of the pieces of Ruby's cape.

Weiss' was the long and thin one, Blake's was more rectangular than Weiss', and Yang's was the square, the largest by far.

Blake took the cloth and wrapped it around her left arm, tying it off there.

Weiss tied hers to the base of her ponytail, letting it fall behind her back.

Yang, taking her piece of the cape in shaking, tear-damp hands, folded the fabric and tied it off around her neck with her scarf.

Blake buried her face in Yang's back between her shoulder blades, whimpering into her skin. Yang began to weep as well, the sound of her anger, hatred, and despair reverberating through the whole school. Weiss, who was sitting next to the weeping pair, rose to her feet and rushed toward the bathroom, but the students of JNPR could see the tears fall before she was behind the door.

There would be no study sessions for anyone tonight. All students were instructed to return to their dorms for bed.

The lights of the school slowly dimmed to blackness, and all seven students shared a room for a night

and they all cried themselves to sleep.


End file.
